


Dangers Unseen

by TottWriter



Series: Triffids AU [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Drama, Gen, Major Character injury/disability, Minor Character Death, Post-Apocalypse, Triffids AU I guess, a sprinkling of psychological horror, at some point these boys will notice I swear, oh and a sprinkling of carnivorous plants, tfw modern society is collapsing and you haven't twigged yet, we've got it all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-09-07 18:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8811643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TottWriter/pseuds/TottWriter
Summary: Okay, so, how to begin. Well, we’ve got a long trip ahead of us. Much slower than catching the train. I didn’t really know how to pass the time, so Kuro suggested I write down everything that’s happened so far, while we can still remember it clearly. I suppose there’s nothing better I could be doing right now, and it might be useful to be able to compare stories later. Assuming we find anyone to compare them with. Kuro says I shouldn’t be so morbid though. After all, there aren’t as many people in the countryside, and I did get that message from Shouyou saying they were safe, and staying at the school.
 I really hope they still are.***The end begins with a glorious fanfare throughout the skies - one which the fortunate never see. In the wake of a mysterious disaster, Karasuno volleyball team must come to terms with the collapse of society, the sudden blindness of some of their teammates, and the growing numbers of carnivorous plants which threaten to overwhelm them all.





	1. Preface

 

> _Okay, so, how to begin. Well, we’ve got a long trip ahead of us. Much slower than catching the train. I didn’t really know how to pass the time, so Kuro suggested I write down everything that’s happened so far, while we can still remember it clearly. I suppose there’s nothing better I could be doing right now, and it might be useful to be able to compare stories later. Assuming we find anyone to compare them with. Kuro says I shouldn’t be so morbid though. After all, there aren’t as many people in the countryside, and I did get that message from Shouyou saying they were safe, and staying at the school._  
>    
>  _I really hope they still are._  
>    
>  _I’m not sure what we’ll do if we make it all that way and find out that they’re gone, or—or something happened to them. After everything…we might be too late. But I guess there’s no sense worrying about that for now._  
>    
>  _So, yeah. It started…less than a week ago. It feels a lot longer. But I’m trying to be accurate, so I suppose I should count up the days. Kuro says I should go in order too, and not muddle things up with what happened later. No more interruptions, I suppose. If I can help it. I’m not very good at this sort of thing. Yaku-san would be a much better choice for making a record but now he’s—I’m getting distracted. If I’m not going to back out of writing all this down, I have to get on with it. Even if it is very difficult to write while we bump along the roads._

 

* * *

 

It was going to be a hot day. It was already a warm and slightly humid morning, even early as it was, and Shouyou couldn’t help but sigh as he fetched his protective suit for the ride to practice. In Tokyo he wouldn’t need it. In Tokyo, people cycled _without_ wearing protective gear which covered every inch of their skin. He could leave the suit behind and not worry about it for a whole week. _One more day_ , he thought. _One more day and then we’ll be going!_  
  
He fastened the helmet over his head and adjusted the visor, slinging his schoolbag over the top. At least the week away should be enough to let his route settle down a little. After the Golden Week training camp, where he’d stayed at school for five days in a row, it had taken a while before the road through the mountains was partially lined with dark green once more.  
  
“I’m off now!” he called, leaning back through the open doorway. “I’ll call when I get to school!”  
  
There was a breeze as he cycled, although not much of it filtered into his suit. He made sure to leave earlier in the summer, so that he could take his time and not overheat on the uphill part of his journey. The last thing he ever wanted was to have to stop along country roads. Staying in one place attracted triffid stings, and although his suit was strong enough to withstand them, cleaning the poison off when he got to school was never fun.  
  
What _was_ fun, on the other hand, was trying to outwit them. Shouyou spent every journey varying his speed. Triffids ‘learnt’ quickly—if you went the same route every day at the same time and the same speed, they almost seemed to _know_ just when to strike. In his suit, that wouldn’t be the same deadly matter that it would be otherwise, but it _would_ lead to the aforementioned cleanup at school. So he varied it, sometimes dawdling past, and sometimes going all-out when he saw the leafy green stems waving at him in the most remote parts of the route—the roads which laid too far away from field and town for anyone to bother docking their stingers.  
  
Sometimes, and moreso after seeing how most of the other volleyball players on opposing teams tried to adapt to his freak quick, he tried to outwit them altogether. Lure them into thinking he was at a certain speed and then slow down or speed up suddenly, grinning with silent satisfaction as the whiplike stingers lashed out either too soon or too late. The most satisfying run had been when he’d timed it well enough to crush the stinger under the wheels of his bike after duping the plant. And it was a little like training, in a way. The ride to school became every bit as important a part of his routine as the rest of his practice.  
  
Dodging blockers was just like avoiding triffid stings. If he imagined those tall, tall hands as stingers, he could dig deep for the burst of speed to outwit them. And then he would reverse it, and think of the triffids as blockers: opponents to be outsmarted. Clever and cunning, trying to funnel him down certain routes or chase after him as he darted across the court. Swerving, braking, pedalling hard for a burst of speed, he ducked and weaved his way along each day.  
  
And then he would be clear of the woods and the high roads, and the sun would or would not come out, and he’d roll down the last hill at breakneck speed, feet flying free of the pedals, and it was always a little bit like flying.

 

* ***** *

 

Barely 24 hours later they were driving into Tokyo, and although most of the team were dozing after their midnight start, Shouyou found himself pressed against the glass, staring out at their surroundings. It was all so _different_ , and yet at the same time, very familiar to home.  
  
Once they pulled up at Shinzen High School, he had to stop and stare even more, transfixed. He hardly took his eyes off as they disembarked and met up with the Nekoma players who had come out to greet them.  
  
“Where’s the fence?” he asked Kenma, gaping up at the building atop the hill. “There’s no fence around the school. Don’t you worry about, you know, attacks and stuff?”  
  
Kenma shook his head. “Why would they need a fence like that? What are we guarding against? The only problem with coming to Shinzen is all the _bugs_.”  
  
Shouyou looked around. It really didn’t look all that different to the bigger towns in Miyagi Prefecture. Still, he had to admit, Kenma made a good point. There were no wild mountains for dangers to grow in. They were still a long way from the edge of the city.  
  
He shrugged. “Back home, the schools are on the edge of town. We don’t get many, but sometimes triffids wander down from the mountains. If we didn’t have tall fences they’d get onto school grounds.”  
  
Kenma blinked. “Oh, right. Yeah, now I remember. Kuro was pretty worried when I wandered off that time.”  
  
Shouyou grinned. “You were safe enough in town. They don’t like the roads. It’s only where you’ve got lots of open ground that they wander in. Fields, mountains, that stuff. They’ll cross roads when they have to, but not unless there’s dirt for them to settle in.” He looked up at the school. “All this open grass reminds me a bit of home though. I guess I thought all of Tokyo was like… _super_ city! Everything’s so…normal!”  
  
A short way behind, the two captains shook their heads.  
  
“Is he seriously talking about _triffids?_ ” Kuroo asked, eyebrow raised.  
  
Daichi shrugged. “Well, he’s one of the students who wears protective gear to get to school,” he said calmly. “Generally, the people who have to take steps like that tend to keep them on their minds. You can’t blame us country folk for taking the danger a bit more seriously when we back onto the mountains.”  
  
Kuroo smirked. “Can’t switch off now you’re in the city, eh? Hope it doesn’t distract you too much.”  
  
“We are not about to get distracted just because you leave all your open spaces ridiculously exposed in Tokyo!” Daichi snapped.  
  
Suga rolled his eyes. “Well technically this is Saitama,” he remarked. “And not _all_ of us expected suburbs to be the same as the mountains. We’re in a built up area. I can’t imagine people just let the seedlings grow up without docking or burning them.”  
  
Daichi swivelled on one and pointed at him, glowering. “I don’t need this from you right now Suga. It’s too early.”  
  
“Not too early to have your asses handed to you at volleyball I hope?” Kuroo remarked, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
In an instant, Daichi’s scowl lifted, and he turned back to Nekoma’s captain having forced his face into a smile almost as broad and insincere.  
  
“Oh it’s never too early to make you regret that one.”

 

* ***** *

 

It was their third penalty run to the top of the hill.  
  
“Well…we’re really…proving them wrong,” Suga gasped once they came to a halt.  
  
“Shut up Suga,” Daichi groaned. “You know I couldn’t let that lie. Urgh. Look at that. How does Hinata do it?”  
  
They stared at him. Almost alone out of the team he didn’t seem bothered by running full pelt in the sun. The first two times it hadn’t seemed all that remarkable, but as the day progressed and the weather got far hotter than it usually did in Miyagi, more or less everyone else was beginning to wilt.  
  
Suga shook his head. “Not just Hinata,” he said, clutching his side and pointing with his free hand at the other boy who didn’t seem as bothered by the heat. “N…Narita, too. Must be those damn suits they wear every day.”  
  
He scowled at the quietly contemplative expression on the captain’s face. “Oh no. Don’t even _think_ about it Daichi.”  
  
“But if it works…”  
  
“ _No!_ ”  
  
Daichi grinned. “Well, if we ever got the funding from the Vice Principal to get a full set of suits you might need to worry. But for some reason he doesn’t seem all that fond of us, so…”  
  
“I always knew I liked our first years.”

 

* ***** *

 

It was a good week. It was a good summer, really—a _perfect_ one, because even though they returned home after losing almost every set they played in Tokyo, they managed to connect all the techniques they’d been working on enough to make it through the preliminaries with comparative ease, even against Kakugawa’s two-metre giant. Buoyed with confidence, and what must have been a truly _incredible_ amount of persuasion from Takeda-sensei to get the Vice Principal and everyone’s parents to agree, they had arranged a somewhat impromptu training camp for the last week of the summer break.  
  
Shouyou didn’t even mind the heat as he donned his protective suit before leaving home.  
  
“Bye mum, call you when I get there!” he yelled, closing the door behind him.  
  
He set off, grinning as he climbed higher and spotted the telltale dark green alongside the road ahead. He’d gone slow the day before, so _today_ …With a burst of speed he shot past the triffid, laughing as the stinger missed him completely. The next one, just a short way ahead, proved similarly easy to outwit, and by the time he reached the final hill down towards the town he was ready to fly. A perfect start to the day. The sky was a little overcast, but that was fine. It could clear up later, after he was back in just his training gear.  
  
And clear up it did. By the time they were packing away for the evening, everyone was exhausted. October was too close for them to be slacking off. The heat of the day had sapped at their strength, a late second-wind to the summer which was very reminiscent of their week in Tokyo. Shouyou almost fell asleep eating, and he wasn’t alone.  
  
“Alright, let’s make it an early night, everyone,” Ukai said, shaking his head as they cleared plates. “Get cleaned up, and then I want lights out.”  
  
Lights out. Shouyou sank gratefully onto his futon, asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. He didn’t so much as stir until morning, even though Yamaguchi almost tripped over him on his way back from the bathroom some time in the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what long journeys without use of my laptop do to me? This. They lead to ridiculous, nonsensical plot bunnies which spiral wildly out of control and hog my brain. I’m not sure how familiar Ao3 in general is with John Wyndham’s 1951 science fiction masterpiece, but let me tell you, it sure as all hell has nothing to do with a VOLLEYBALL SPORTS ANIME. Honestly, I can’t even claim to have been drunk/high when I thought of this, because I am damn near being teetotal. Somehow, this idea arrived to me during what passes for full lucidity in my brain. To any fans of the (truly excellent - you should all go read it) book, I am very sorry. So much has been changed to make this work. So very much. (Also I regret nothing and everyone will suffer, evil author cackling, etc., etc…) Still, those who have read the book must have a pretty good idea of where this is probably going and you are Not Wrong.
> 
> To fans of Haikyuu!!…I am also very sorry. This is gonna get pretty rough in places, and while I bear this series’ (ridiculously extensive) cast no ill-will, the fact of the matter is that not everyone is getting out of this in one piece (or at all). This is not a fic about killing off fan favourites or anything, but…well, I’ve already stretched plausibility a LOT by going with the setup I have planned.


	2. Chapter 2

  

 

> _I woke up on Tuesday (Kuro says I should add that it was the 30th August, ‘for posterity’) to find that both my parents had gone blind for no reason at all. I tried calling one-one-nine because I didn’t know what to do to help them, but all the phone lines were busy and I couldn’t get through. I wasn’t able to go out either, because when I suggested it my mother begged me to stay with them. I think they were scared that if I left I wouldn’t come back._

 

* * *

 

Months of habit woke Shouyou early, and he yawned and stretched on his futon, blinking in the gloom. The light which filtered into the room past the curtains had the warm yellow of sunrise about it, which meant it had to be somewhere around five in the morning. He yawned again and sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. The others were all asleep, but to judge from the way some of them were moving, he wasn’t the first awake by much.  
  
Still.  
  
The moment he saw Kageyama stirring, he grinned and poked him on the arm, whispering cheerfully.  
  
“I woke up first!”  
  
Kageyama scowled, even half asleep, then managed to go from that to fully awake in just a few seconds.  
  
“You… _damn!_ ”  
  
From the far side of Kageyama came Tsukishima’s quiet drawl: “Does _everything_ have to be a competition with you two? Some of us are still trying to sleep you know.”  
  
“But it’s morning,” Shouyou said, shrugging.  
  
“Mm, no…still dark,” Yamaguchi mumbled. “’s too early.”  
  
Kageyama shot Shouyou an incredulous look and sat up. “What are you _talking_ about?” he said, turning round to stare over at Yamaguchi. “The sun’s up already. It’s morning.”  
  
Yamaguchi’s arm appeared, hand flapping lazily at them. “Oh, just stop messing around and let us sleep,” he said groggily.  
  
“Uh…” This time it was Tsukishima who moved, propping himself up on one elbow. He reached forward and grabbed his glasses with his free hand. “Yamaguchi, it’s too early for _my_ tastes, but they’re not lying. Look. You can see the sunlight coming in past the curtains.”  
  
“…I can’t see any sunlight,” Yamaguchi said. The grogginess was gone, replaced with more than a hint of worry.  
  
Tsukishima got up and stalked over to the curtains, throwing them open. Several of the others groaned and complained, either pulling covers over their faces or wincing at the sudden light.  
  
“There, you see?”  
  
“ _No!_ Everything’s just shadows still!” Yamaguchi sat up and looked around, his bottom lip quivering slightly. “Tsukki, what…what’s going on?”  
  
He sounded like he was about to cry.  
  
“Okay, now _calm down_ ,” Daichi said, making them all flinch. “What’s the matter?”  
  
The commotion had been enough to wake the rest of the team, who were easing themselves upright with varying levels of concern and confusion. Yamaguchi looked so utterly helpless and bewildered that even Kageyama seemed worried. Shouyou was trembling. The window faced east, and the sun was bright enough that everyone else had to shade their eyes if they faced that way, but all Yamaguchi could see was _shadows?_  
  
“I…it’s _morning?_ ” Yamaguchi said, his voice high with terror. “You…you can _all_ see sunlight?”  
  
“Oh _shit_ …” Kinoshita said, his voice soft even in the silence that had fallen.  
  
“Okay, now…now don’t panic,” Daichi said, holding his hands out in front of him. “I’m sure this is nothing serious. There must be a reason…”  
  
Suga looked up from his phone. “We need to get him to a doctor,” he said flatly. “It could be a symptom of something.” He held the phone up for emphasis. “I know you shouldn’t diagnose over the internet, but…”  
  
“Okay. Suga, you go wake Takeda-sensei and tell him we have an emergency—”  
  
“Got it,” Suga replied, dropping his phone and heading out of the room at a run.  
  
Daichi kept his voice soft and level as he spoke. “Yamaguchi—now I know this is alarming, but try to stay calm. Tsukishima, help him gather his things together. Everyone else, go…wait somewhere. _Down_ stairs.”  
  
They bundled out of the room. Shouyou looked back as he reached the door to see Yamaguchi sat trembling on his futon, knees drawn up to his chest with his hands covering his face. Asahi was the last out, and slid the door closed behind them all. They were halfway down the stairs when he heard raised voices, and saw Suga bolt out of coach Ukai’s room and along the corridor to their own.  
  
“D-Daichi!” he cried, sliding the door open and disappearing inside.  
  
Shouyou watched, eyes wide, as they both re-emerged and ran full-pelt back the way Suga had come. A hand squeezed his shoulder.  
  
“Come on,” Asahi said, voice shaking. “Daichi said to go—”  
  
“Asahi, get Shimizu _now!_ ” Daichi roared, leaning out of the doorway. His face was ashen. “And call one-one-nine!”

 

* * *

 

>   _Obviously, after sending an IM to Kuro asking for help, I checked online to see if anyone else knew what could be wrong with them. But apart from a lot of pictures and videos of some kind of weird meteor shower, my timelines had gone quiet. It was still early—my mother had woken me up the moment she realised she could no longer see—but normally there would have been more activity than that. I remember thinking it was strange. When was the internet ever quiet, you know?_  
>    
>  _Oh. Kuro says I should get on with it. We’ve pulled over for a break and he’s watching me. Reading over my shoulder ~~like a cree-~~_  
>    
>  _Anyway. It took Kuro a long time to answer me, which at first made sense because it was very early. His reply only made me more confused, though. He sent back: “SHIT, u2? b rt thr”_  
>    
>  _…Now Kuro is interrupting again to say I don’t need to include all the small details like that. I wish he’d make up his mind. (Also, stop reading over my shoulder Kuro. I know you’re trying to help but it’s very off-putting.)_

 

* * *

 

After a moment where Asahi looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, he darted back up the stairs. Shouyou was almost _dragged_ down them by Ennoshita, who herded everyone into the kitchen.  
  
“We can’t _do_ anything,” he said, looking shaken. “Whatever’s going on up there…if there was something we could help with we would have been asked.We’ve just got to keep out of the way for now.”  
  
It felt like the longest wait of Shouyou’s life. They could hear movement and muffled voices from upstairs. Yachi ran down to join them after the first minute or so, her tracksuit askew and her hair unbrushed, but she looked so shellshocked that no one dared ask her what was going on. It was another several minutes’ long wait before she spoke.  
  
“I…” she cleared her throat. “Do…do you think they’ll be okay?” she asked in a small voice.  
  
“‘ _They_ ’?” Shouyou asked, leaning forward. “What do you mean? We’re only down here ‘coz of Yamaguchi, aren’t we?”  
  
Her eyes widened. “What?”  
  
“He woke up and couldn’t see properly,” Ennoshita said heavily. “We have no idea why.”  
  
“But that’s…” she replied, shaking her head vigorously. “That _can’t_ be right. It’s Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei who aren’t well. I heard Sawamura-san telling Azumane-san to fetch an ambulance for them, except the call wasn’t going through.”  
  
“You think it could be the same thing?” Narita said, frowning.  
  
“Doesn’t sound good either way,” Tanaka replied heavily. “And what’s all this bullshit about the phone, too? Wish they’d tell us what’s going on.”  
  
Kinoshita folded his arms. “If it’s an emergency and the phones are down, someone ought to go for help. Why are they all still up there?”    
  
Yachi shook her head. “Sh…Shimizu-san went,” she said. “Sugawara-san too. He…he didn’t even stop to get properly dressed.”

 

* * *

 

Tadashi sat with his hands covering his face, eyes scrunched tightly closed. He couldn’t see anything, but sat like this, that much was only normal. As long as he didn’t move, it was easy to believe that when he opened his eyes, everything would be back to the way it should be again.  
  
_This is a bad dream. This is a bad dream…_  
  
Tsukishima had gathered his things and sat down next to him, saying nothing. He’d heard that much. The temptation to move his hands and peek out of the corner of his eye to see what kind of expression— _no!_ He had to stay still. As long as he didn’t look, as long as his eyes stayed closed, he didn’t have to think about what was going on. Suga had said it might be a symptom of something. Something serious, by the tone of his voice and the way Daichi had reacted. But he felt _fine_ , really he did. There was nothing wrong with him at all. It was all just some sort of mistake, and at some point he would open his eyes and prove that, because the world would be right there, all back to normal.  
  
…soon. He knew he _had_ to look soon, but not yet. Just a little longer. Just a few more minutes.  
  
“Yamaguchi—” Tsukishima said, his voice a lot gentler than it usually was. He almost sounded _afraid_ , but that…that was impossible.  
  
“I-I’m f…I’m f-fine,” he mumbled.  
  
Tsukishima said nothing for a few eternal seconds. Every silence seemed to drag out much longer in the dark, as though time passed in slow motion. Would it feel as long if he could see what was happening? What if he peeked, just in case the world was back?  
  
“I wonder what’s going on with the third years,” Tsukishima said, in a would-be calm voice. Tadashi could hear the effort which had gone into making it sound even as normal as it did. _He really is worried._  
  
It was a reflex really, a half-conscious reaction to the strained note in those words. Tadashi’s hands lowered a fraction, and he inclined his head towards Tsukishima's voice, opening his eyes.  
  
Everything was dark; not-quite-shadows and blurs which didn’t make any sense at all.  
  
“Tsukki…” he said, voice cracking. “I can’t…where _are_ you?”  
  
His nose itched and stung, his eyes prickled. He felt the tears as they rolled down his cheeks; hot at first and then cold, cool tracks down his face, poolng slightly at his jaw before trickling down his neck.  
  
“I…I’m right next to you,” Tsukishima replied. He exhaled sharply, and took another deep breath before speaking; voice slow and stilted: “I don’t. Know what…to _do_.”  
  
Reflexes took over again and Tadashi reached out with one hand, patting the air around him until his hand bumped into…what? He clutched at the fabric of what _had_ to be Tsukishima’s shirt and clung to it, desperate for an anchor point. His breath hitched, and he choked back a sob.  
  
“I can’t see you,” he wailed. “I can’t see _anything_ ,”  
  
There was a blur in front of him, simultaneously grey and no identifiable colour at _all_ , and a hand gripped his shoulder.  
  
“It’s just me,” Tsukishima said. “Okay? I’m right here. Now, I don’t know what’s taking them so long, or what’s gotten everyone so worried out there, but we’re going to get you to a doctor, and we’re going to find out what’s wrong. You haven’t injured yourself, so there must be some other explanation. We just don’t know what it is yet. Do…do your eyes _hurt_ at all?”  
  
Tadashi shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. He opened them a few seconds later, desperately trying to make sense of the half-shapes in the darkness.  
  
“There was a blur when you moved your arm,” he said, words tumbling out of his mouth. “I _saw_ that, but I don’t know how, and now it’s gone.”  
  
Another blur, sweeping in an arc across the front of his vision.  
  
“What was that?” he cried, leaning back.  
  
“I moved my hand,” Tsukishima said. “So…you can sort of see movement?”  
  
“Maybe? I don’t know! I don’t know what’s going on at all!”  
  
The hand on his shoulder squeezed.  
  
“You’ve got to try and calm down. This is all useful information we can give a doctor. I… _tch_.” There was a blur of something grey, roughly where Tsukishima’s head ought to be. “Damn it, what’s _taking_ them so long?” he cried.  
  
“I—” Tadashi hadn’t heard Tsukishima sound so frustrated by something in years. “W-what’s wrong, Tsukki?”  
  
There was a pause. Tadashi desperately wished he could see what sort of face Tsukishima was making. He’d never even thought about how much he relied on looking at people during a conversation until he couldn’t.  
  
“What’s wrong is that sudden loss of vision is a medical emergency, and Suga-san _knows_ that because I’m sure he read the same thing on his phone that I just did on mine. This sort of thing can be temporary, but the longer it’s left the more risk of it being permanent, and despite that they’ve just… _left_ us here.” He shifted, a sudden grey/not-grey blur in front of Tadashi which matched the sound of rustling fabric, and the way his arm was pulled slightly to the side.  
  
Tsukishima cleared his throat. “Will you be okay here if I go and find out what’s going on?”  
  
Tadashi tensed, gripping Tsukishima’s shirt even tighter. There was no logical reason it should bother him—he couldn’t see Tsukishima _anyway_ —but the thought of being sightless and alone terrified him, especially in the wake of his friend’s outburst. _Permanent?_ What would he do if his vision never came back?  
  
“I…”  
  
“Okay, new plan. Get dressed and…uh…you can hold my arm or something and come with me. I’ll make sure you don’t fall over.”  
  
“I—I’m sorry, Tsukki,” Tadashi mumbled, as the hand on his shoulder lifted. More blurs swooped past, going to the side and then back It matched the way his arm was pulled to the side by Tsukishima moving. The blurs stopped and disappeared directly in front of him, and he grabbed at a bundle of material which was pressed against his chest using his free hand.  
  
“Yamaguchi, you… _anyone_ in your position would be scared. You don’t need to apologise. I understand. And, oh. Uhh…that’s a shirt in your hand. Do you want the rest of your clothes now, or…”  
  
Tadashi took a deep breath. He wasn’t just scared, he was _terrified_. If even Tsukishima was worried then it had to be bad. But doing something was better than sitting there with nothing to do but panic, wasn’t it?  
  
“I…are they in my bag? I can probably…I mean, I can feel what’s what, right? It’s just like getting dressed with the lights out.” His voice shook, and he had to wipe the tears from his face with the back of his hand, but it did help a little to have something to work towards. He tried to shut out the little voice in the back of his mind which repeated the word _permanent_ over and over again.  
  
His sight _had_ to come back soon, didn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when you make decisions for important narrative reasons but feel suuuuper guilty about it? Yeah, that.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

 

> _I had to pick out clothes for my parents, and make breakfast. They could hardly do anything by themselves. While I was in the kitchen, I heard a thump at the door. I thought it was Kuro._  
>    
>  _I was wrong. It was the man from the house next door. He had a suit on, but the jacket didn’t match the trousers, and he looked a mess. I thought he was drunk, because he had his arms out in front of him, feeling around, asking where I was. Asking who I was. He…he grabbed me, clutching my shirt and reaching up to grip my shoulders. He was staring at me so hard that I didn’t even realise he was blind until he told me._  
>    
>  _I promised to call a doctor as soon as the phones worked but he didn’t let go, and I didn’t want to drag him indoors. In the end I was stuck there at the door until Kuro arrived and peeled him off of me. He got angry then, and started shouting and hitting out, so Kuro shoved him backwards and closed the front door in his face. I don’t know what happened to him after that. He hammered on the door for a little while, but it all went quiet eventually. We didn’t see him again._  
>    
>  _…Ever._

 

* * *

 

Kei gritted his teeth as Yamaguchi tripped _again_. It was unavoidable, he knew that much—safely navigating a path through the rumpled sheets and futons which the rest of the team had left in their wake as they fled the room was difficult enough even with the ability to see where he was putting his feet. All the same, Yamaguchi’s grip on his arm was tight enough that he fully expected bruises to form when this was over.  
  
Not that he could blame Yamaguchi for that at all. If their roles had been reversed…he tried not to think about that. The thought of having to depend on someone else to see for him was deeply uncomfortable. In all honesty, the reality of _Yamaguchi_ needing someone to see for him was beyond uncomfortable already. If they didn’t get him to a doctor soon…  
  
“We’re at the door now,” he said, attempting to tune out his brain’s most recent replay of the results of his internet search for “sudden blindness”. “You just have to step down off the futon, and after that it’s flat.”  
  
Yamaguchi nodded, face turned helplessly towards him. In many respects, with the way his eyes darted around it was difficult to believe he couldn’t see anything. At a glance, he looked exactly the same as he always did. In fact, if it had been anyone else, Kei might have suspected it was all an act. But it _was_ Yamaguchi, and this sort of thing was the _last_ thing his friend would joke about. Besides, every now and then their eyes would meet, just for a fraction of a second as Yamaguchi swept the room with his apparently blind gaze.  
  
If he were faking, there would be a hint of guilt, or amusement. Perhaps a moment of hesitation if he feared being caught out. But there wasn’t _anything_. No recognition at all. Yamaguchi bore the same helplessly fearful expression he’d worn all morning, and his eyes moved past Kei’s without pause. As though he wasn’t there at all.  
  
What _that_ meant was that despite the fact Yamaguchi seemed to be able to tell when something moved in front of him, he had no real sight at all. The hurried image search on his phone had suggested that temporary sight loss tended to only affect part of the eye. There had been illustrations of circles which were half black. Detached retinas or glaucoma seemed to be the only obviously reversible conditions, and so far nothing his friend had described matched the symptoms of _either_ condition.  
  
_Stop thinking about this_ , he told himself sternly, quashing the rising panic once more. _You’re not an optometrist, so you’re not qualified to know what’s going on anyway._  
  
They made it halfway up the corridor before Asahi appeared in a doorway, regarding them nervously. Yamaguchi flinched, presumably at the movement.  
  
“Who is it, Tsukki?” he hissed.  
  
“It’s Asahi-san,” Kei muttered, as the aforementioned third year’s face crumpled with pity and concern. He frowned, simultaneously glad Yamaguchi couldn’t see the expression Asahi was giving him, and disgusted with himself for thinking that when he should have been wishing Yamaguchi _could_ see it—because then, obviously, Asahi wouldn’t need to be staring at anyone like that in the first place.  
  
“Ahh, I’m sorry,” Asahi said. “You…it…” He turned back into the room, shoulders hunched. “Daichi, what do I _say?_ ”  
  
Daichi appeared in the doorway, shaking his head. He pushed Asahi further out into the hall and slid the door closed behind him, before closing his eyes and sighing heavily. His body language radiated tension and concern, despite the would-be calm on his face, and the level tone of his voice as he spoke:  
  
“Look, I’m sorry we abandoned you back there, Yamaguchi,” he said, glancing quickly up at Kei before continuing. “No one has forgotten, and we are going to get help. But the situation is a little more…complicated than we’d realised. We’ve tried calling for an ambulance and can’t get through. Suga and Shimizu have gone for help, so we’re just waiting for them to get back at the moment.”  
  
Kei frowned. “With all due respect, I don’t understand why you don’t simply ask Takeda-sensei to—”  
  
The expression on Daichi’s face silenced him.  
  
“Takeda-sensei has gone blind too,” he said softly. “As has Coach Ukai.”

 

* * *

 

It was early enough to be quiet still. The sunlight had burned off most of the morning’s dew, but patches remained here and there in the shade. Until they’d started running, Suga had definitely felt a little cold.  
  
Not that they had to run far, of course. Shimizu’s house was only a few hundred yards from the school grounds. If it hadn’t been for Yachi’s presence at the training camp, she would have gone home for the night, rather than stay with the rest of the team. It was what she’d always done in the past.  
  
Suga looked up and down the road as Shimizu fished in her pocket for her keys and fitted them to the lock. It was still early—not much after half five, in fact—but something still felt wrong about the silence.  
  
_It’s just my imagination,_ he thought. _I’m on edge…who wouldn’t be, after everything this morning._  
  
All the same, it was reassuring to go inside, and shut out the not-quite-right world outside. Shimizu had kicked her shoes off in the genkan and bolted indoors, but Suga took his time, and hovered on the threshold looking down at his socked feet. He’d never had a reason to visit her house before, and now that the initial mad dash had ended, it occurred to him that he was stood there in what were _technically_ his pyjamas, even if they weren’t all that different from his training kit. He hoped it would convey the urgency of their situation, rather than making him look irresponsible.  
  
“Kaa-san, Tou-san,” Shimizu called, stopping by a small table and snatching the home phone from its cradle. “Are you awake?” She dialled, and put the phone to her ear, frowning with worry. After a few seconds she dialled again, then sighed.  
  
“It’s not working here, either,” she said, putting it down. “I…hold on. My father could drive them to the hospital. I’ll go wake him and explain.”  
  
Suga nodded. Having removed his shoes, he stood uneasily in the hallway while Shimizu disappeared up a flight of stairs. Could there have been any _worse_ timing for there to be something wrong with the phone network? It was just a blessing that the problems didn’t seem to have affected their ability to connect to the internet.  
  
_I should let Daichi know the phone issue is more widespread,_ he thought _. He might—_  
  
Someone upstairs cried out in panic, and there was a clamour of voices. Suga froze. The knot in his stomach that had formed when Takeda-sensei had exclaimed that he couldn’t see—which had more than doubled in size when he’d woken coach Ukai had awoken to discover that he, too, was blind—twisted once more. He didn’t even need to wait for Shimizu’s panicked cry for help to know what had happened.  
  
_But why?_ he thought, racing up the stairs. _What could possibly have caused all of this?_

 

* * *

  

> _I’d frozen up completely, so it was Kuro who calmed my parents down and told them what had happened. I wished he hadn’t. They’d been worried enough already. By that point they had asked me to put the news on too, and it seemed like it was just showing old footage. Endless loops of adverts, and some sort of spotters’ programme for that meteor shower which had been all over my dash._  
>    
>  _Kuro said that he’d run into a few other people who had gone blind in the street, even just between his house and mine. So far, we seemed to be the only ones who could still see anything. Neither of us could think of any reason why everyone in the road would have suddenly lost their sight except us. When I told him about the news and the internet, he pulled his phone out. I thought it was to check for himself, but it turned out he’d gotten messages from several people. When I fetched my phone, I realised that I had too. A mix of personal IMs and activity in the team chat. I hadn’t even noticed, because I’d had to switch my phone on silent while helping my parents. The noise from the notifications kept making them jump._

 

* * *

 

"They’re coming downstairs!” Hitoka hissed, peering around the doorframe. She whimpered, leaning back into the room. “Yamaguchi-kun looks really scared.”  
  
“I think any of us would be, suddenly going blind like that,” Ennoshita said. “But I’m sure he doesn’t want a noisy _rabble_ gathering around him, so no one is going to make a fuss, understood?” He stared pointedly at Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Hinata in turn. “Got it?”  
  
The three of them nodded. Hitoka found herself joining them, despite the fact that the second-year had his back to her. Compared with some of the more outgoing members of the team, she’d never particularly considered Ennoshita as intimidating until that moment, but anyone who had the ability to get Tanaka and Nishinoya to fall in line _had_ to be worthy of respect.  
  
She squeaked with surprise as Daichi walked into the room, his expression grave.  
  
“The training camp is over,” he said flatly. “As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, we have a medical emergency affecting a teammate as well as both Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai. I can’t ask any of you to stay under these circumstances. Also, the phones don’t appear to be working at the moment, so if any of you needs to contact family before heading home, I suggest trying to email or message them another way. I’ll make sure at least one of us third years remains here as long as anyone needs to wait behind.”  
  
He paused a moment, arms folded. “Please be considerate as you change, and gather your belongings,” he added. “I’ll make sure to keep you all informed of any developments.”  
  
As they filed out of the room, Daichi held out a hand and stopped Tanaka. “Wait here a moment,” he said quietly, nodding for the others to leave. “I need to ask a favour.”  
  
Tanaka looked surprised, but nodded. He shrugged at the others as they walked out of the room.  
  
“What do you think he wants?” Narita asked, keeping his voice low.  
  
“Well, if the phones don’t work and they can’t get an ambulance, it’s probably a lift,” Nishinoya replied. “Saeko-san can drive, can’t she, and it’s better to get help from someone they know than go knocking door to door.”  
  
"Yeah, that's a good point,” Kinoshita said as they made their way up the stairs.  
  
There was no sign of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi anywhere. Hitoka supposed they must have gone outside. She certainly wasn’t about to bring the subject up. From the expressions on everyone’s faces they were trying to avoid thinking about it.  
  
The room where she and Shimizu had slept already seemed alien and strange. They had both dressed in a hurry, leaving their bags open with the contents spilling out. She straightened both futons and folded the sheets. Where were they supposed to go? She could probably ask one of the others but they would be busy, and anyway, wouldn’t they need to be washed first? Besides, what if they didn’t want her carrying futons around while their teachers were ill?  
  
In the end she simply gathered her clothes and toiletries back into her bag, and straightened the covers on both futons. She could always tidy up once she saw what the others had done.  
  
_It’s very different to the camp in Tokyo,_ she thought. _Here, the only girls are me and Shimizu-san. Were, I mean. It’s not ‘are’ any more. We’re all going home. Because people are sick, and Yamaguchi can’t see anything, and it’s really awful and what’s going to happen if they don’t get better?_  
  
She stood by the door with her back for a full minute before she trusted herself to open it. Outside, she heard the others moving past. If she really wanted to see where she ought to put the futons and sheets, that had probably been her chance.  
  
_You’re being stupid!_ she told herself. _Everyone else is coping._ You’re _not the one who’s sick, anyway. Stop making such a fuss, when you’re lucky enough that you get to go home. Poor Yamaguchi-kun has to go to hospital instead!_  
  
With another deep breath, she slid open the door and walked downstairs, pulling out her phone. It was a Tuesday, so her mother would probably be at work…but then again it was early, too. Maybe it would be better to send a message and explain what was going on. _She’s probably not even awake yet._  
  
Her mind was only half on the gathering of boys loitering in the hallway, something which changed abruptly when Daichi ran down the stairs past her, his face drawn.  
  
“Narita, call Tsukishima and Yamaguchi back in here, _now_. They should be just outside,” he said.  
  
Narita—who stood out from the others because he had already put on his protective suit ready for his walk home—blinked and nodded, before darting over to the door and leaning out. Hitoka watched him peer around and then call out for the two first years to join them.  
  
Daichi didn’t say anything more until they were all gathered in the hallway.  
  
“Suga just messaged me,” he said flatly. “Shimizu-san’s parents went blind in the night. When they found out, Suga ran to her neighbour’s houses and knocked. The _same thing_ had happened to them. In combination with Yamaguchi and…well, with Takeda-sensei and Coach, it’s starting to look as though this is a more widespread problem than we could have predicted.”  
  
He took a deep breath. “Perhaps I’m over-reacting. Perhaps this will turn out to be nothing. I very much hope I’m wrong, in fact. But I’m asking for a volunteer. Maybe two or three. With the phones not working properly, there’s no easy way to contact your families and make sure they’re okay. I can’t stop you leaving—I’m not _going_ to stop you, if you want to go—but I’d prefer it if someone remained behind until we can get hold of a doctor. Shimizu-san is going to bring her parents here, but it’s going to take a little while for them to get here. And whatever’s going on, I believe we’ll be in a better position to help the ones we care about if we work together.”  
  
“Wait, sensei _and_ coach are…they’re _blind?_ ” Nishinoya exclaimed. “What the hell? _How?_ ”  
  
“Do you _seriously_ think I’d be stood here like this if I could answer that question?” Daichi snapped.  
  
Hitoka flinched, along with half of the rest of the team.  
  
Daichi sighed. “Look, I would prefer it if…frankly if all or most of you stayed, for now. Something about this is wrong. We can use the school as a gathering point—fetch anyone who’s been affected so that when help arrives we’re all in a central location, perhaps. Or maybe we’ll get out there and find someone else has already had that idea and we can help. Maybe the hospital has set up already, and we just need to ferry people there. Right now we don’t know. We need to get a better picture of what’s going on. Do I have any volunteers?”  
  
Hitoka looked down at her phone and blinked. It wasn’t even six in the morning yet.  
  
 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, despite the fact I should have been working on a different fic, there's still enough early-day planning for this one rolling through my head that I can't switch off. I've now managed to get a Timeline file up and running, and I've plotted out a lot more of the overall shape of the story to come. (I am getting entirely too enthused about all of this!) It's...going to get pretty vast, most likely. Also the cast is going to get bloated enough that I've already had to draw up lists to keep track of my intentions for them all, and I'm still trying to decide whether to feature the other Miyagi teams or not. 
> 
> If anyone's interested in chatting about it/yelling at me for blinding poor, inoffensive Yamaguchi (In my defence, it had to be SOMEONE), feel free to ping me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tottwriter/) or [tumblr](http://tottwritesfanfic.tumblr.com/)!


	4. Chapter 4

 

> _The chat groups we were in were being flooded with messages from some of the others, saying that half or all their families had gone blind. Kuro sat down at the table and told me to contact everyone whose number I had, to ask what they knew._
> 
> _Not everyone was replying in the chat, and not everyone replied to my messages, either. I didn’t even think about why at first, because those who did reply said so much. I wish—_
> 
> _I wish we’d made the connection faster._

 

* * *

 

 Daichi felt his gut wrench as he took in the assortment of faces before him. He knew how conflicted they must all feel as they stared back. Knew how conflicted he felt _himself_. Frankly, he wanted nothing more than to run home that very moment and make sure his parents were safe. But he had a duty—both to their currently incapacitated teachers and to the rest of the team. And if he forced himself to think practically, it really _wouldn’t_ make a difference whether he ran home or not. If they were fine, then there was no need to worry at all. If his parents _had_ gone blind, getting there faster wouldn’t change that.

…Which wasn’t an especially comforting argument, he had to admit.

“I’ve sent Tanaka to fetch his sister.” he said, trying not to think about what would happen if she proved unable to drive. Their house was further from the school—surely whatever was going on couldn’t have spread that far? “The plan is to get a lift to the nearest doctor, and bring that doctor back here to help. But it’s not going to be easy to get people here, even with Tanaka-san.” He didn’t need to add that they might not even have her assistance. From the expressions on everyone’s faces they were thinking the same thing.

“We should draw up a list,” Ennoshita said, after a few seconds’ decidedly uncomfortable silence. “Decide who to get to first, and…divide ourselves into groups or something.”

“Yeah,” Narita added, shifting awkwardly. “Who’s easiest to get to, who has family that might need help more urgently if there’s a problem…that sort of thing.”

Almost subconsciously, Daichi’s eyes flicked towards Yamaguchi, who stood with one hand tightly gripping Tsukishima’s sleeve, and his head pointing downwards. Tsukishima stared straight back across the room. There was a silent question in his stern expression: _What are you planning to do about Yamaguchi and_ his _family, captain?_

They needed to know. Someone needed to call them _fast_ , but without phones, how were they meant to do that? He’d already considered sending Tsukishima—who at least knew where they lived—but Yamaguchi was in no position to be left without support from someone he trusted, and he simply wasn’t close enough to anyone else on the team that he could ask to go instead. Not without knowing their own families were well. The weight of responsibility lay heavy in his heart. He’d signed up to be captain of a _volleyball team_. Not to be left in charge of fifteen other people in the middle of some sort of medical crisis—three of whom needed serious assistance as soon as humanly possible.

“Okay,” he said after a moment. “I like the idea of a list. We’ll prioritise Yamaguchi’s family as they need to be notified anyway, and go nearest to furthest from there, unless there’s anyone who has a _good_ reason why their family should go sooner. Judging from the number of people affected so far, I’m going to assume this isn’t normal blindness, if there is such a thing. What that means…I don’t know. This is why we’ll _also_ be fetching a doctor, and trying to get hold of anyone who actually knows what’s going on. Maybe this is just a local thing. It could even be limited to people near the school. So if any of you notice _anything_ about your vision changing, say so _immediately_. Understood?”

The team looked visibly shaken by that idea. If the words hadn’t tumbled out of his mouth as soon as he’d thought of them, Daichi might have tried to keep them to himself. What was the sense in causing panic? But then, they really _didn’t_ know what was going on. And the last thing he wanted was to send everyone off alone only for them to go blind in the street.

“Right. Uh…I guess we’ll need paper…” he said, frowning. This was too much, too early, it really was.

“I…I have a notebook!” Yachi squeaked, her voice barely audible even though she was stood right by the stairs, just behind him. She jumped as he turned to look at her, then rummaged in a bag at her feet and pulled out a pastel green exercise pad and pale yellow pen, holding both out like some sort of offering with her eyes tightly closed.

“That’s…good…” Daichi said, trying to focus. It was still sinking in that no one had left yet. Were they were _all_ waiting for him to tell them what to do? He didn’t even know how to cope with the situation they had already, let alone how they’d manage if _more_ people turned out to be blind. Before, he’d always had Suga there to bounce ideas off of when he needed to, but Suga was still helping Shimizu with her parents—and probably her neighbours, too, given that the pair of them suffered from a general inability to resist helping people in need. There were too many things for him to think about alone.

He cleared his throat and tried to smile at Yachi, who looked positively terrified. “Well. If everyone tells you— _calmly_ ,” he added, frowning briefly at the rest of the team, “—where they live, could you write it all down?” He looked back at the others. “Use google or something on your phones to work out the distance while you’re waiting. I’m just going to check on Sensei and Coach, understood?”

There was a chorus of agreement, and the sound of Yachi squeaking again as the rest of the team turned to face her. Daichi hardly paid them any attention as he ran back up the stairs. Check on their teachers; yes, that was a good way of putting it. It also gave him an excuse to back away from all those faces turned towards his, waiting for him to know what to do. At least he didn’t have to keep up the same level of pretence with Asahi.

“How are they doing?” he asked, coming to a halt by the doors to their teachers’ rooms. Asahi didn’t especially need to answer. He’d never had a poker face.

“I…I found them both clothes, like we said, but Ukai-san’s just…sitting there,” he said quietly. “He’s not doing _anything_. And Takeda-sensei—I think he’s crying. Ever since you read out Suga’s message, it’s as though they gave up.”

“I _can_ hear you, Azumane,” came Ukai’s voice, flat and leaden. He sounded half dead. “I’m blind, not dead… _Yet_ , anyway.”

“No one’s going to die, Coach,” Daichi said hastily, sliding the door to his room open. “We just….we just need to work out a plan for what to do next, that’s all.”

“Well that plan you’re working on had better be for the short term too, because if someone doesn’t find my cigarettes in the next two minutes I _will_ be dead. I need a smoke something fierce. Plus about thirty shots of course, but I can appreciate I’m not getting _those_ any time soon.”

Daichi and Asahi looked at each other awkwardly. Asahi shrugged.

“Well—where do you keep your cigarettes and your lighter?” Daichi said. “I’m sure I can get them for you.”

Ukai _did_ manage to look a little more his usual self once he’d had a few heavy drags on the cigarette, filling the room with a slight haze.

“Alright, get out you two,” he said. “I’m not so far gone as I need someone to help me get dressed, okay? Wait. We’ve not heard anything more from Sugawara or Tanaka yet I take it?”

“Not yet, no. Suga will be heading here with…well, _possibly_ just Shimizu’s parents but I have a feeling the holdup is to gather her neighbours as well. Tanaka has further to go. I’m hoping to hear from him soon.”

“And still nothing on the phones?”

Asahi shook his head. “I’ve been trying,” he said miserably. “It’s not going through no matter who I ring.”

 

* * *

 

>   _I…I guess we couldn’t have known. Maybe we couldn’t have done anything for the others even if we had. Not for all of them, at least._
> 
> _Well. Anyway, Kuro was worried about his parents, so he suggested we head back to his house and stick together until we could work out what was going on. I knew my parents didn’t want to leave, because at least they knew more or less where everything was in our house, but Kuro can be persuasive when he wants to be, and it really did make sense at the time._
> 
> _It seemed like such a big deal at the time, just getting them from one house to another. Leading them down to the genkan where they could put their shoes on, then waiting for Kuro to check that the man from next door had gone and fumbling to get out of the door, with my father resting his hand on Kuro’s shoulder, and my mother clinging to me as though I might vanish. Both of them walked really slowly, shuffling rather than lifting their feet properly. By the time we reached Kuro’s house my mother was clinging so tightly to my arm that she left marks. It was black and blue with bruises that afternoon._

 

* * *

 

 Tanaka Ryuunosuke had never run all the way home before. _Technically_ he hadn’t just done it then either: he’d had to stop once or twice and get his breath back, thanks to setting off at a sprint and not bothering to pace himself until the burn of overexertion bit into his side. It wasn’t even all that _far_ , which just went to show how much he’d really overdone it trying to get there quickly. He staggered to a halt at the end of his road, gasping. Almost there. Just another minute or so, and then he could deal with his irate sister and explain why this time it really _was_ a life-or-death situation that had him almost begging her for the use of her driving ‘skills’.

He found himself walking. Limping along with his arms wrapped around his aching body, telling himself it was the burn of the stitch which had slowed him, and not the tiny, lurking worry about what exactly he was going to _find_ when he got there. It was stupid. He wasn’t _scared_ or anything. He was going get home, and man, Saeko was gonna be a nightmare to get up, because no one in their family was good at going to bed at a sensible time—training camps aside. Probably the best strategy would be to poke her with a really long stick and then wait for the explosion to die down or something, but that wasn’t really going to help when he then had to get her to listen while he explained what was going on.

Her car was parked up beside the house, swerved right across the garden taking both spaces because their dad wasn’t going to be back for another week or two yet. Half of him wondered why he had even agreed to ask her for help. Honestly, she was as likely to kill them all as actually get them where they wanted to go in one piece. Then again, Daichi hadn’t ever had to sit in the car next to her while she was driving. He didn’t _know_ , and had probably just assumed that someone they knew would be a better bet than a stranger. That and the only other person who lived as close to the school was Noya, who had been staying with him for the last few days _anyway_ , seeing as the rest of his family were visiting some aunt, or a cousin or something who lived near Toyama.

Okay, so now he was seriously stalling, which was bad, because Daichi had put a lot of faith in him, sending him off to fetch help when three people had gone freaking _blind_. This was some heavy shit. He shook his head, and slapped both sides of his face to calm his nerves. It was _fine_.

It was not fine.

He’d gritted his teeth and swung open the door, yelling up the stairs for Saeko to wake up even as he pulled off his trainers. In socked feet, he almost slipped over on the stairs as he raced up them, clinging to the handrail as he went. Hardly stopping to regain his balance at the top of the stairs, he hammered on her bedroom door until he heard her confused demands to be left alone, then swung the door open.

Saeko screamed, clutching at her face in a panic and demanding to know what was going on. She scrambled back from the door and fell off the far side of her bed, landing with a thump and a startled shriek.

“Who’s there?” she snapped, albeit with a voice that shook. “Why-what—”

“Can you see?” he demanded, running over. He stopped on the near side of her bed. She was lying stomach down on the floor, clutching at her head, and turned to face him at the sound of his voice.

“… _Ryuu?_ ” she asked, her voice strained and incredulous. “Is that you? But you’re at…”

“Sis, can you _see_ ,” he asked, dropping to his knees and leaning across the bed. “Please tell me you can see.”

“ _No_ I can’t see, Ryuu! Did you come home in the middle of the night or something? Stop messing around and put the light on!”

He managed a strangled sob and staggered back towards the door, shaking his head hard. Maybe if he shook it hard _enough_ this would all turn out to be some stupid nightmare.

“Ryuu!” Saeko cried after a moment, and he realised he was frozen.

He couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. This was…this was _fear_ ; real and visceral and completely alien. His heart was so loud and fast—was that normal?

“… _Sis_ …” he mumbled.

“Ryuu, just stop messing around and turn the light on!” Saeko screeched, getting to her feet. She stared right at him. “It is _way_ too early for this crap, and I am gonna kick your arse if you keep messing me around like this!”

“I—” He screwed his eyes tightly shut, refusing to acknowledge any thought of tears, and shook his head. “It’s… _Sis_ , it’s not dark,” he said weakly. “I came back home because we needed your help but it’s _morning_ , you gotta believe me, I’m not messing you about, and…you can’t see _anything?_ ”

He was pretty sure his face looked an awful lot like Saeko’s as she registered what he was saying. She was _white_ ; paler than anyone alive had a right to be, and her knees crumpled beneath her. Slowly, as though she hadn’t even noticed what she was doing, she reached up and waved a hand in front of her face, then pressed her fingertips to her cheek.

“I’m…I’m blind,” she said dully. “Ryuu, why can’t I see.”

“We don’t _know_ ,” he moaned, voice choked. “We all woke up this morning and Yamaguchi couldn’t see, and then we went to get Coach and Takeda-sensei and _they_ both went blind too, and none of the phones are working so Daichi-san sent me to fetch you, but—Sis I had no idea, okay?”

“Okay. Okay,” she mumbled.

He’d never seen her so quiet. It was eerily different to how Yamaguchi had reacted—now there was no reaction at _all_.

“I…Ryuu, you gotta fetch me some clothes, okay? And then…oh, I dunno. You hungry? I’m pretty hungry you know; maybe we could grab a bite to eat, and maybe everything will go back to normal on its own. I mean…I mean this isn’t _permanent_ , right? Because I mean, it couldn’t be permanent.”

He grabbed hold of the doorframe, half a breath from pointlessly wringing his hands. Half-hysterically, he noted that there wasn’t any point doing that when she couldn’t _see_ it. “Look I don’t know, okay? But…Daichi-san wants us all up at the school, coz that way doctors and stuff know where to find everyone. So I guess we gotta go.”

“ _GO?_ ” she cried, gripping the bedsheet with white-knuckled hands which shook. “But I can’t—oh god I can’t _see_ , Ryuu! How am I supposed to go anywhere? How am I supposed to do _anything?_ ”

It looked like she was staring straight at him, it really did. He clung to the doorframe as the knot in his stomach grew.

“Shit, oh _shit_ , this is—I dunno what I’m doing here Sis, okay? You really can’t see at all? Coz like, you’re staring right at me and you don’t…look…any different—”

“That’s because you’re shouting so damn loud!” Saeko snapped, hurling herself upright. “Damnit Ryuu, I really can’t…oh shit—Ryuu, I’m blind? How am I blind?”

“I…I _don’t KNOW!_ ”

They stood in silence, facing each other across the room. It took a moment, but he eventually recognised the strained expression on his sister’s face. She wasn’t crying. Not crying in the same way she hadn’t cried whenever something _big_ had happened, like their grandfather dying, or their mother walking out, or that stupid asshole ex of hers thinking it was a good idea to pick on him (as though that had worked), and she felt the need to be the Big Sister and look after him.

“Get me my clothes, Ryuu.”

Her voice was calm and flat. Gods, it was like Daichi-san in a way. Only worse, because at least Daichi-san didn’t ask the _impossible_. Ryuu pressed himself against the wall.

“But…but you just said…and—and I can’t rummage around in your drawers like that!”

“Oh just be a man Ryuu and get me some damn clothes! …And stay out of the third drawer down.”

It wasn’t until he was safely out in the hallway again that he realised that Daichi still didn’t _know_. Everyone was waiting on him to provide transport. He fished in his pocket and pulled out his phone and dialled, hoping that the network would be up and running again. It would certainly make things a lot easier.

They weren’t, of course. Because why would anything be easy?

 _“Daichi, my sister is blind”_. That was all he needed to type. All he needed to say. A quick message, and then…then they’d work something out. Or maybe Daichi would work something out, and he wouldn’t have to—no. There was too much to worry about. Because once they knew it wasn’t just the houses around the school…which brought him back to how damned important it was to actually write the words.

“Shit, shit, shit!” he muttered, staring at the screen. There was absolutely no reason for this to be as hard as it was turning out. Deep breath. It wasn’t as though he could _avoid_ it, right?

His hands shook as he typed and hit send. In the end it was only two words— _::Saeko too::_ —but they’d have to be enough. He had other things to worry about now, and surely Daichi would understand that?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a few hundred words into this chapter before realising that I'd already made a continuity error. Derp. I've gone back and fixed the last chapter to correctly re-tag a line of dialogue to Nishinoya instead of Tanaka. Apparently even timeline software cannot save me completely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, the minor character death tag becomes applicable as of this chapter (don't panic, it's not any of the HQ peeps!). I probably won't warn for every minor character death after this (it _is_ an apocalypse fic), but seeing as this is the first, I didn't want people to stumble upon it without expecting to. Things are going to get a little rougher in the next few updates.

> _I wasn’t sure what to do when we [Illegible]—_  
>    
>  _We’ve stopped for now. Kuro says that it’s better not to travel at night, because it’s going to get cold and we need to think about making sure everyone stays warm. I think it’s really because he’s nervous about anyone driving in the dark when they’re all still learning. We’re still well inside the city limits, and the roads are clogged with abandoned cars. There aren’t as many people any more, though. It’s very quiet._

 

* * *

  
  
It was a good thing that everyone had stayed. Definitely. And, Yuu told himself, that wasn’t selfishness either. It was a good thing because it meant that there were plenty of people to help as Suga and Shimizu-san escorted four blind adults and a wailing baby up the hill, and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he’d sent his parents a message about the training camp being cancelled due to an outbreak of mysterious blindness and they hadn’t answered yet.  
  
The baby was good, too. Well, actually no—the baby was terrible. It shrieked and screamed, and its mother fussed over it something awful, weeping because she couldn’t see it any more and was worried she wouldn’t be able to look after it or something. But it was good that it was there, because at least fussing over the thing gave Yachi something to do other than panic, and no one liked to see Yachi panicking. There were a lot of messed up things going on that morning, and one person—who could still see, even—oughtn’t to have been that high up the list of stuff worrying him, but…this was _Yachi_. When Yachi got going, it was pretty hard to ignore.  
  
Still, The List had been drawn up even despite Suga’s pretty disruptive arrival on the scene. So far, with Ryuu already going to fetch Saeko, it had been decided that they would form two groups to check on people. They had enough volunteers that they could easily have split up further, but when Ennoshita had suggested it, Daichi had insisted they make sure to stay in groups of at least three or four. With those staying behind—either out of necessity or to help the newly blind—that left them just shy of enough people for three groups.  
  
It didn’t make that much difference either way, seeing as it turned out that most of them lived too far from the school to be easily reached. Their first respective jobs were to check in on Yamaguchi and Kinoshita’s families—Kinoshita being the closest after himself and Tanaka.  
  
Yamaguchi’s home was a solid thirty minutes’ walk from the school, and more than one person had suggested they wait for Saeko to drive someone over. Daichi had immediately waved off the suggestion on the basis that she would be needed to fetch a doctor should they be able to get her help. In all honesty, the tentative way Daichi had phrased that point seemed a little strange. Yuu couldn’t imagine that she’d refuse, so why was he acting like they couldn’t count on her?  
  
While they waited to hear from or see the Tanaka siblings, Daichi gathered everyone who was going to be checking on people by the door and split them into their two groups himself. They stalled for a moment on who to send where. Aside from Kinoshita, no one really had a stake in where they went. None of them had questioned Tsukishima’s request to stay behind.  
  
“I could go ahead on my bike to Yamaguchi’s,” Hinata said, sounding as serious as he ever had. Yuu couldn’t remember hearing that tone of voice outside of volleyball discussion.  
  
Daichi sighed. “I’d really rather you all travel together, but…that might not be a bad idea. Yamaguchi’s family need to be told as soon as possible, and they’re further off, so they ought to be in the clear of…whatever’s going on.” He frowned at the two groups. “But we can’t ignore the fact that the phone networks are acting up, so if you get there and they want to leave but you can’t contact the rest of us, you’re to _stay there_ and wait for the others to link up with you again, understood? I don’t want this to turn into any worse a situation than it already is, so stick together as much as you can. The last thing we need is one of you wandering around with no idea where everyone else is.”  
  
Yuu was definitely glad that he’d found himself in the group who would be heading to Kinoshita’s house. There was nothing to look forward to in that long walk—which would end up being a jog, most likely—to deliver horrible news at the end. The thought of having to wait around without a working phone was even less appealing.  
  
_Rather Hinata than me on that one,_ he thought. _For sure._  
  
They were just heading out of the door when Daichi’s phone bleeped. Almost in unison, everyone turned to watch as he fished it from his pocket and opened the message.  
  
The colour drained from his face.  
  
“D-Daichi?” Asahi asked.  
  
“It’s from Tanaka,” Daichi said, his voice leaden. “He… I need a volunteer to go help. I think we have to assume his sister went blind as well.”  
  
It was like being punched in the stomach. “ _Saeko-neesan?_ She…Daichi-san, send me,” Yuu said, clenching his fists. “I…you have to send me.”  
  
Daichi frowned at him for a long moment, but nodded. “I’ll tell him you’re on your way over. Help him bring her back here. I know it won’t be as simple as going up the road, so…be careful, okay? If you get stuck, message me and I’ll send someone else to help. Much as I understand his reasons for wanting to stay here, Tsukishima can go if it comes to that.”  
  
Yuu nodded. They’d work something out though. No way were they going to let things get bad enough that they needed more help. As he fastened his laces he heard Ennoshita ask what they were going to do now. He didn’t stop to hear the answer. It didn’t matter. Daichi would think of something. All he had to focus on was what was in front of him, and that was helping both Saeko _and_ Ryuu.  
  
_She’ll get better,_ he told himself firmly as he ran out of the school grounds at full pelt. _She has to get better, just like everyone else._

 

* * *

  

> _Somehow, Kuro and the others have gotten the vans into a sort-of circle, with the main doors opening inward. That way we can come and go in the night, and if there are any triffids around we should be safe. It’s strange to think we might have to worry about that, but we are getting closer to more open areas now. I think Kuro just wants us to practice for when we’re in the countryside. After all. We could simply break into some of the houses and shelter inside if we really thought they would be a danger here in the city. At least that way we’d all have beds._  
>    
>  _...On second thoughts, maybe he’s worried about what we’ll find inside. The houses around here are family dwellings, not apartment blocks for single office workers._

 

* * *

 

“You’re _sure_ you know where you’re going?” Suga asked, as Shouyou swung his leg over his bike and settled his foot onto the pedal.  
  
“It’s fine! I have my phone if I get lost. The internet still works, right?” He smiled as broadly as he could manage, but it was too much effort to keep the grin fixed in place.  
  
He frowned. “Do you think Yamaguchi will be okay? And everyone else too, but…Yamaguchi’s family are going to be really worried when I tell them what happened, aren’t they.”  
  
There was something…something _odd_ about settling onto his bike without layers of protective gear. Sitting on the bike meant going home, which meant shielding himself from danger as he crossed the pass. Now, he was perched on the seat waiting for Suga to reply and he felt…vulnerable. Exposed. It didn’t help that Suga’s normally cheerful face was twisted with uncertainty, or that he was taking an awfully long time to answer.  
  
“It’ll be fine,” Suga said at last, although he didn’t look as though he especially meant it. “Just focus on delivering the news and getting them back here for now. We can worry about everything else later, okay?”  
  
Shouyou nodded. It was true enough. And as he pulled out of the school, calling out to Kageyama and Ennoshita to say he’d see them there, it was a lot easier to let the uncertainty and wrongness fall away. He had a job to do, and that meant going as fast as he could, not sitting around worrying about things he couldn’t really control anyway.  
  
The roads were eerily quiet as he cycled along. It wasn’t that he really expected lots of people to be around—it was still only a little after six in the morning, after all, but there was usually _some_ sound. Where were the farmers? Where were the delivery men on their way to the shops? It was still summer break, which explained the lack of students, but there ought to have been more people around than he could actually see signs of.  
  
By the time he reached what had to be Yamaguchi’s house, the sun was hot on his back, and it was _still_ quiet. He pulled up outside the gate and kicked the stand into place. There didn’t seem a lot of point in bothering with his bike lock. It was way too early for thieves, even if it had been a normal morning.  
  
Which it wasn’t, because on a normal morning he wouldn’t be stood outside Yamaguchi’s house at all, let alone be preparing to inform his parents that he’d mysteriously gone blind in the night. And the teachers had too. And everyone else they’d called for help.  
  
He clenched his fists as he marched up to the front door, and took a deep breath before reaching out to ring the bell. This was…well, it was a nice part of town. They probably didn’t get a lot of early morning interruptions, so he had to make as good an impression as he could given the news he was there to deliver.  
  
After what certainly _felt_ like a long pause with no reply, he tried ringing the doorbell again. There wasn’t any answer. Shouyou frowned. Were they both really heavy sleepers or something? Yamaguchi had said they would both be home, so why wasn’t anyone answering?  
  
Well, it might not be a polite thing to do, but this was an emergency. Gritting his teeth, Shouyou hammered on the door.  
  
“Yamaguchi-san!” he cried. “Yamaguchi-san, I’m sorry it’s so early but I really need to talk to you!”  
  
Nothing. No, wait, not _nothing_ …he could hear something after all. Muffled voices coming from indoors, arguing and… _crying?_  
  
The silence outside was starting to get oppressive. It was _too_ quiet, and now he could hear the voices inside a little more clearly they definitely didn’t sound happy at all. A woman was crying so hard she was almost shrieking.  
  
_They’re blind too._  
  
The thought hit him suddenly. It was the only explanation. Somehow Yamaguchi’s parents must have gone blind, just the same as coach Ukai, and Takeda-sensei, and everyone else. What now?  
  
His hands shook as he fished for his phone, and he almost dropped it on the floor before he managed to type out a mail.  
  
_::Daichi-san, Yamaguchi’s parents aren’t answering the door even though I can hear them inside. I think they’re blind too and I don’t know what to do. Kageyama and Ennoshita aren’t here yet::_  
  
It took two attempts to hit send. How long would it take to get a reply? He frowned. Hopefully not too long, but if Yamaguchi’s parents really had gone blind, then they were probably stuck inside, and it sounded as though they were really scared. How would he feel if _he_ lost his sight?  
   
Closing his eyes tightly, he tried to walk back to his bike. No good. He hadn’t gone more than a step or two before they popped open again on their own. Not being able to see anything must be horrible. How could he just stand around and make them wait?  
  
“Hey!” he yelled, making up his mind. “Yamaguchi-san, _hey!_ I’m from the volleyball club!” He hammered on the door again to—hopefully—get their attention. “Pardon my intrusion but I’m going to see if I can get in through the back door.”  
  
He stepped back off the front porch and was about to walk round the side of the house to see if the back door had been left unlocked—or perhaps there was an open window he could climb through—when he heard a voice cry out:  
  
“Someone, help! I can’t see!”  
  
It sounded like an older man. Shouyou grimaced, and backed up down the path. He was there for Yamaguchi’s parents, and he’d just said he was coming in, but…  
  
“”I’ll be right back!” he yelled at the door, and darted back down the short path.  
  
The man was at the far end of the road, staggering out from a house in just his dressing gown and slippers. His arms were extended out in front of him, and he shuffled forward slowly and unsteadily. Shouyou was about to call out and tell him to stay calm when there was a flash of green. The man fell to the ground with a brief, startled cry. He lay motionless, even as a dark green shape detached itself from the hedge and swayed into the middle of the path.  
  
Shouyou clamped his hands over his mouth just too late to mask a horrified screech. There was a triffid in the street. It…it had just _killed_ someone.  
  
He staggered back out of sight of the plant, as though that would make any difference to something without eyes. It had _stung_ the man, which meant it was undocked. Where had it come from? The mountain? How had it walked all that way—the Yamaguchi house was close to the edge of town, but any nearby triffids ought to have been grubbed up by the neighbourhood watch. He _couldn’t_ have just seen that. He couldn’t have just seen someone…seen someone _die_.  
  
Shouyou realised he was shaking when his knees gave out beneath him, depositing him onto the path. His stomach churned, promising to reject the hasty breakfast of protein bars he’d been handed before his cycle sprint. No, no, no, this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. Not least of all because he didn’t have his gear on and he’d been shouting. If there really _was_ a triffid in the street, that meant he was in big trouble.  
  
_Kageyama and Ennoshita too_ , he thought suddenly. _They’re going to get here soon._  
  
His hands shook even more as he fished for his phone one again. It was all he could do to type a quick message saying _::danger triffid!::_ and hit send, before forcing himself to his feet to look—  
  
No. He wasn’t going to look. If he peeked out of the gate, what if there was a looming tower of green waiting for him? He had to get _away_ , not go find it. He had to get indoors, and close a door, and draw the bolts and find a protective suit, and tell someone to fetch a triffid gun and shoot the stem off the thing and…and…  
  
And if everyone was blind, they wouldn’t be able to shoot it. If everyone was blind they wouldn’t even know a triffid was _there_ until it was too late.  
  
Shouyou backed himself up against the Yamaguchis’ front door, clutching at his stomach. It was impossible, all of it was…but he had to do _something_. He couldn’t just sit there waiting for the thing to find him. There was no shelter at the front of the house, and although he could easily outrun one of the things, running would make enough noise for it to know where he was. And if there was _one_ , there were probably more, somewhere nearby. He’d never ever seen just _one_ of the things by the side of the road.  
  
It wasn’t running away to dart round the side of the house and look for an open window. He’d been planning to do that anyway. And it wasn’t cowardly to squeak with surprise and dismay when his phone lit up, and bleeped to announce a new message. He switched it to silent, cursing himself for not having thought of that in the first place.  
  
_::Okay Hinata, don’t panic::_ the message read. It had been sent from Kageyama’s phone, but Shouyou suspected that Ennoshita had typed the message, especially when he read the words which followed. _::We’ll be careful. Just stay inside for now. Unless Yamaguchi’s parents can drive you to us? We’re not far.::_  
  
_Oh no,_ he thought, looking at the side of the house. If they thought he was indoors already they weren’t going to risk coming to meet him. Which was a good thing in a way, because they wouldn’t attract the triffid’s attention. On the other hand, it was also a really bad thing, because it meant that now he was possibly going to have to fix this all by himself.  
  
He rested his back against the wall and slid down so that he could sit on the heels of his shoes. His fingers shook less if he could rest his phone on his thighs as he typed:  
  
_::I don’t think they can see either because they haven’t answered the door and I’m still stuck outside and the triffid is up the other end of the street and I just saw it kill someone and I don’t know what to do and I told daichi about them being blind but he didn’t answer yet please help me ennoshita I dont know what to do::_  
  
By the time he hit the send button he felt dizzy and sick, and his chest heaved as though he were out of breath even though he’d hardly moved at all. The screen kept sliding out of focus. He dropped it to the floor and clutched his head in both hands, pressing his mouth against one knee to smother a scream. Triffids could hear sounds from a long way off. If he made too much noise—he’d already made too much noise really—it might come and find him. What was he going to do? What _could_ he do? If the Yamaguchis had any anti-triffid gear it would be locked up inside, which was where he definitely wasn’t.  
  
_Please help me_ , he thought over and over, echoing the words of the mail he had sent. _I_ really _don’t know what to do._

 

* * *

  

>   _I still haven’t gotten used to how hard it is to see in the dark now. Kuro told me to use my phone’s flashlight function, and to ask him for help if I need to go to the bathroom. He showed me the collection of solar-powered charging units he grabbed to make sure I’d have enough battery. I didn’t tell him that I grabbed quite a few as well. At least this way I can charge up my PSP and pretend things are normal again before I go to sleep._  
>    
>  _Right. Normal. Normal as I’m about to go to sleep on the seats of a van, listening to everyone else breathing nearby, while the world outside is so dark I almost might as well be blind as well._  
>    
>  _Why did I ever let Kuro talk me into writing everything down? Now it’s like a tap. I can’t stop writing down all the things I’m thinking, and it’s just making me notice how hard it is to write at all when everything outside the spotlight of my phone’s flashlight is pitch black. I don’t want to be like this. I don’t want to look up and not know if there are no stars because it’s cloudy or I just can’t see them any more._  
>    
>  _I never understood why some people were afraid of the dark before. I wish I didn’t now._

 


End file.
